Brian Goodness, left, and Dave Bruce, utility workers from Massachusetts, repair lines on Sturges Road in Fairfield, Conn. on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Many residents were without power for many days after Super Storm Sandy hit the area.

Brian Goodness, left, and Dave Bruce, utility workers from Massachusetts, repair lines on Sturges Road in Fairfield, Conn. on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Many residents were without power for many days after Super

Trucks from Texoma Powerline Inc. from Sayre, in OK parks at Grass Island Marina in Greenwich, Conn., Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012. Out of state crews were brought in to help restore power after damage from Super Storm Sandy hit the area.

Trucks from Texoma Powerline Inc. from Sayre, in OK parks at Grass Island Marina in Greenwich, Conn., Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012. Out of state crews were brought in to help restore power after damage from Super

A crew from Tennessee does line work for CL&P in front of the library on Main Street in Ridgefield, Conn. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Power was knocked out for days after Super Storm Sandy hit the area.

A crew from Tennessee does line work for CL&P in front of the library on Main Street in Ridgefield, Conn. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Power was knocked out for days after Super Storm Sandy hit the area.

Power company crews from Thirau, which is contracted by United Illuminating, work to repair power lines on Ridgewood Drive in Milford, Conn. on Thursday November 1, 2012. Many were without power for days after damage from Super Storm Sandy.

Power company crews from Thirau, which is contracted by United Illuminating, work to repair power lines on Ridgewood Drive in Milford, Conn. on Thursday November 1, 2012. Many were without power for days after

Storm damage to a utility pole near the Armstrong Court public housing complex Greenwich, Conn. on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. Many residents in the area remained without power for days after Super Storm Sandy.

Storm damage to a utility pole near the Armstrong Court public housing complex Greenwich, Conn. on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. Many residents in the area remained without power for days after Super Storm Sandy.

A tree knocked down utility lines on Park Ave. in Bridgeport, Conn. during the height of the wicked weather caused by Super Storm Sandy.This section of Park Ave. between Maplewood and Beechwood Ave. remained closed and without power on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. less

A tree knocked down utility lines on Park Ave. in Bridgeport, Conn. during the height of the wicked weather caused by Super Storm Sandy.This section of Park Ave. between Maplewood and Beechwood Ave. remained ... more

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Photo: Jessica Hill, .

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Crews work to repair downed wires Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, in Eatontown, N.J., after a nor'easter brought high winds and dumped as much as a foot of snow overnight in the region pounded by Superstorm Sandy last week. (AP Photo)

Crews work to repair downed wires Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, in Eatontown, N.J., after a nor'easter brought high winds and dumped as much as a foot of snow overnight in the region pounded by Superstorm Sandy last

Crews from Connecticut Light and Power, O&G Industries and Marino Crane work on building a concrete wall to keep the CL&P South End Substation on Manhattan Street from flooding as Hurricane Sandy moves into Stamford, Conn., Oct. 29, 2012. The wall consists of two lines of 4,000 pound blocks stacked six feet high. The crew then shot foam into the cracks between the blocks and covered them with plastic. The substation powers most of the Stamford Downtown area.

Crews from Connecticut Light and Power, O&G Industries and Marino Crane work on building a concrete wall to keep the CL&P South End Substation on Manhattan Street from flooding as Hurricane Sandy moves

Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are inadequate staffing levels. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are

Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are inadequate staffing levels. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are

John W. Olsen, right, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, right, looks on as Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are inadequate staffing levels. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

John W. Olsen, right, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, right, looks on as Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen rally at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union,

William Henderson, left, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298 AFL-CIO, and Frank Cirillo, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 420 react during a rally of Connecticut Light & Power's unionized linemen at the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The union, which has been without a contract since June, rallied over what they say are inadequate staffing levels. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

William Henderson, left, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298 AFL-CIO, and Frank Cirillo, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 420 react during a rally of

Trees were still coming down on a twisted landscape of splintered timber and uprooted giants when CL&P lineman Keith Boczer got to Weston after Superstorm Sandy's crushing landfall.

The scene was so bad, he took cover because trees were "falling all over the place."

Boczer immediately realized his tiny crew -- linemen typically travel in two-man squads -- was overmatched, and he said he felt "handcuffed." In years past, storms like Sandy were attacked with far more crews, the 55-year-old lineman said.

Boczer had trouble finding transformers to replace those damaged during the storm -- and it would be well more than a week before all of the lights were back on in Weston.

Lengthy outages like those following Superstorm Sandy and the twin Connecticut monster storms of 2011 are now becoming typical as undermanned electric companies, which no longer have armies of lineman, struggle to turn the lights back on. As companies like Connecticut Light & Power steadily cut back on key workers to boost profits, the nation's electric utilities are becoming less reliable and power outages are lasting longer.

In Connecticut, the number of CL&P linemen -- the workers who actually restore power -- has shrunk 60 percent over the past three decades, while the number of people served by the utility has increased 40 percent, a Hearst investigation has found. Nationally, the number of utility linemen is now well below pre-2000 levels.

At the same time, CL&P posted nearly $240 million in profits for 2010.

And as the utility workforce declined, reliability -- measured by the length and frequency of outages -- has also dropped.

Not so dependable

A recent U.S. Energy Department report concluded that between 2000 and 2009, the reliability of the national electric system declined by 2 percent a year.

After Sandy cut power to nearly 600,000 people across the state, it took CL&P and United Illuminating more than a week to restore everyone's power.

During the twin storms in 2011, 800,000 people were out of power and some residents waited more than 10 days for electricity to be restored.

In 2010, CL&P experienced 558 power outages during major storms, compared to 171 in 2001, according to statistics filed with the state. By comparison, between 1995 and 1998, the average was 484. United Illuminating's numbers show a similar trend.

"There needs to be a national inquiry into the reliability and efficiency of our grid and our electric supply," said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Reliability was a factor in suburban Weston as Boczer's linemen scrambled for transformers in the aftermath of Sandy's fury. Transformers weren't easy to find -- leading to further delays.

Frank Cirillo, the top IBEW official in Connecticut, said he's not surprised crews had difficulty obtaining transformers.

A single CL&P clerk handles all requests for equipment, he said.

"It's like a million people at a Stop & Shop and there is one f---ing cashier," Cirillo said.

Cutbacks at Connecticut Light & Power have degraded every aspect of response, Cirillo said. Crews were so sparse during Sandy that there weren't enough "bird dogs," or local linemen, to guide out-of-state crews.

CL&P brought in hundreds of outside contractors and utility crews to battle Sandy, some before the storm hit. But progress remained slow.

Gayle Weinstein, Weston's first selectman, said CL&P didn't bring as many crews as it claimed.

"Those who are corporate at the utility need to understand the impact," Weinstein said. "They are bogged down in their corporate structure."

But CL&P officials maintain that the number of linemen on staff today is sufficient to handle day-to-day operations and that outside crews are brought in for big storms.

They have also said that Sandy and the twin storms in 2011 were extreme events that destroyed vast segments of the transmission system. Those officials say no utility could afford to have enough linemen on staff to handle such catastrophic storms.

The utility now employs one lineman for every 9,000 customers, he said. CL&P has 1.2 million customers in the state.

"CL&P puts profits over keeping the lights on in Connecticut," Fernandes said. "They had the worst storm response in the country (in 2011). CL&P used to be a proud company. Now all they care about is profits."

Since 1998, CL&P has eliminated 21 percent of its workforce and 16 percent since 2004, federal records show. As of 2010, CL&P had 1,847 employees, compared to 2,379 in 1998.

In the mid-1990s, the company laid off 700 workers in a massive downsizing.

CL&P today has 397 line workers, down from 416 last year and hundreds less than it had in the late 1980s, when Hurricane Gloria hit the state, an event equally as devastating as recent storms.

Linemen are the ones who restore power, reattaching wires knocked down in leafy suburbs or densely populated cities. Tree trimmers clear the way and two-man line crews repair the damage.

While its ranks of linemen diminished, CL&P posted healthy profits for years.

A review of its earnings by Hearst found that profits rose more than 60 percent between 2000 and 2010. The utility earned $238 million in 2010.

Finances for CL&P's parent company, Northeast Utilities, followed a similar track. NU's earnings topped $387 million during 2010, a 28.3 percent return for shareholders, show annual reports and documents on file at the federal Security and Exchange Commission.

"We've gone from having dependability and reliability being the gold standard of the companies to profitability and money," said Jim Hunter, director of the utility department at the IBEW in Washington D.C.

Downward trend

Electric "reliability is getting worse" across the nation, states a U.S. Department of Energy report published this year at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California. The lab's research shows that nationwide reliability deteriorated at an average rate of 2 percent a year between 2000 and 2009.

"This is a real trend," said Joseph Eto, the lead researcher, who noted the study was designed to remove weather as a factor in calculating reliability.

When it comes to reliability in Connecticut, CL&P officials defended their ratings, saying the company is doing better than in the past.

"The utilities are not `not wanting' to get better," said Rodney Robinson, director of reliability management at Westar Energy in Kansas and chair of the industry's Distribution Reliability Working Group. "It just takes money to do that."

At the same time, the Edison Electric Institute, the industry's lobbying organization, boasted in a 2004 report that "the number of restoration workers deployed after major storms has decreased fairly dramatically."

The report touted the efficiencies of a smaller workforce as the reason why it takes fewer workers to restore power than in the past.

An aging system

The nation's power grid was built out during a national growth period in the 1960s and 1970s, meaning much of it is at least a half-century old, said Bhavin Desai with the nonprofit Electric Power Institute.

Desai is conducting a survey among utilities to gauge just how geriatric the system is, which will help executives decide where to efficiently spend limited cash. Everything is aging, from major substation transformers to power poles, he said, and substation transformers price out "in the millions."

"The distribution systems are getting older faster than they are being replaced," said Mark Joseph, an attorney for the Coalition of California Utility Employees.

What happened to the electric utility industry was a "goofy partial deregulation," said University of Houston energy economics instructor Ed Hirs. New laws created stand-alone generating companies. Electricity retailers were allowed, in some states, to sell power to consumers over other companies' wires. But traditional utilities, regulated by state commissions, remained.

The opening scene saw aggressive new electricity brokers (like Enron) push some traditional utilities, like PG&E, into bankruptcy. They drove up floating wholesale prices while PG&E was required to sell power to its customers at a much lower fixed price.

Mergers and acquisitions trimmed the number of private companies controlling major utilities to less than 70 from about 200, SEC records show.

Lawmakers supporting deregulation were promised lower electricity price, but in the 14 states where power is sold to consumers in a competitive market -- including Connecticut, New York and Texas -- "deregulation appears to have had little impact on rates," according to a 2011 report by the research office of the Connecticut Legislature.

A new problem emerged in March 2006 when the electric industry formed a new organization, the Center for Energy Workforce Development, to stem a growing problem: The workforce was aging and there were too few young replacements.